Nonchalance: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Imagine this all-too-common scene for a college student. An essay and multiple assignments due tomorrow, with a difficult exam to finish off the day. The laundry is piling up alongside a lengthy shopping list to go through. After a long day of studying material, editing an essay and completing assignments, all you want to do is go to sleep. You have completed all of your tasks for the day, and you’re ready for the sweet embrace of your bed. And you’re about to return the bed’s embrace when you realize that rather than a single essay due tomorrow, it was, in fact, two essays. At this point, some students might try to think of ways around writing the essay by tomorrow. Others may begin to finish up the second essay they hadn’t finished. I, instead, think this would be a perfect opportunity to catch some Z’s.
I’ve always been pretty nonchalant about everything. Not to say that I haven’t felt any kind of stress before, but I think I have the skill to remain pretty calm in situations where others might stress out. Now, I don’t want to seem as though I am bragging here. I also don’t want to make any normative claims about how people ought to react to certain situations. There have been times in which this level of nonchalance has benefited me, and other times in which it has worked to my detriment.
My nonchalance is often unearned. I have no real basis for thinking things would be okay. Tests I haven’t studied for, assignments I have yet to complete, and readings I haven’t gone through probably ought to make me feel some kind of stress. But I think that this nonchalance, even if it is unearned, ultimately results in favorable outcomes for me. It seems that I always clutch things out, and I suppose I have allowed myself to believe that nothing can ever go wrong. Of course, this isn’t true. Things do go wrong, sometimes. But even after failure, it is that very nonchalance I came in with that allows me to believe such shortcomings can be accounted for by a later clutch play.
I wonder how far my attitude can take me. Maybe there is a limit to how well I can continue to do with such a relaxed approach. But as for now, I don’t think I have reached that limit. When I think that things will be alright, things end up being alright. Maybe it’s not that I always succeed, but that my attitude allows me to see the best in situations that may not be optimal. Will I ever fail to the extent that finally destroys my ability to continue to be nonchalant about most circumstances? So far, it seems kind of doubtful. I think there is some way in which my body maintains a “success homeostasis.” No matter what happens, I might ultimately end up justifying anything that occurs in a way that benefits me. Maybe a more objective view of the world might reveal my situation to be bleaker than I perceive. But sometimes, ignorance is indeed bliss, and if I can continue to believe in my success, I’ll let myself maintain this relaxed attitude.
Post by Kai
I’ve always been pretty nonchalant about everything. Not to say that I haven’t felt any kind of stress before, but I think I have the skill to remain pretty calm in situations where others might stress out. Now, I don’t want to seem as though I am bragging here. I also don’t want to make any normative claims about how people ought to react to certain situations. There have been times in which this level of nonchalance has benefited me, and other times in which it has worked to my detriment.
My nonchalance is often unearned. I have no real basis for thinking things would be okay. Tests I haven’t studied for, assignments I have yet to complete, and readings I haven’t gone through probably ought to make me feel some kind of stress. But I think that this nonchalance, even if it is unearned, ultimately results in favorable outcomes for me. It seems that I always clutch things out, and I suppose I have allowed myself to believe that nothing can ever go wrong. Of course, this isn’t true. Things do go wrong, sometimes. But even after failure, it is that very nonchalance I came in with that allows me to believe such shortcomings can be accounted for by a later clutch play.
I wonder how far my attitude can take me. Maybe there is a limit to how well I can continue to do with such a relaxed approach. But as for now, I don’t think I have reached that limit. When I think that things will be alright, things end up being alright. Maybe it’s not that I always succeed, but that my attitude allows me to see the best in situations that may not be optimal. Will I ever fail to the extent that finally destroys my ability to continue to be nonchalant about most circumstances? So far, it seems kind of doubtful. I think there is some way in which my body maintains a “success homeostasis.” No matter what happens, I might ultimately end up justifying anything that occurs in a way that benefits me. Maybe a more objective view of the world might reveal my situation to be bleaker than I perceive. But sometimes, ignorance is indeed bliss, and if I can continue to believe in my success, I’ll let myself maintain this relaxed attitude.
Post by Kai
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